Keynote Presentations

Michael Kitces

Five Trends Shaping the Future of Financial Planning

The world of financial planning is in a period of significant change, as the profession itself shifts from the founding generation to the next generation of financial planners. In this session, we’ll look at some of the major trends impacting financial advice, from demographics to the role of technology, and explore the opportunities for financial planners to survive and thrive in years to come!

Michael E. Kitces, MSFS, MTAX, CFP®, CLU, ChFC, RHU, REBC, CASL, is a partner and the Director of Research for Pinnacle Advisory Group, a private wealth management firm located in Columbia, Maryland that oversees approximately $1.4 billion of client assets. In addition, he is a co-founder of the XY Planning Network, the practitioner editor of the Journal of Financial Planning, and the publisher of the e-newsletter The Kitces Report and the popular financial planning industry blog Nerd’s Eye View through his website Kitces.com, dedicated to advancing knowledge in financial planning.

Carl Richards

Master Communicator Workshop

Effective communication between you and both your prospective and current clients is critical to the success of your firm. In this workshop, Carl Richards will help financial professionals understand how to communicate in a sincere, credible way via marketing efforts, various introductory and client meetings, and ongoing service offerings. The workshop will cover different techniques and strategies for delivering your message in a way that establishes strong relationships that last.

Carl Richards is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and the director of investor education for the BAM ALLIANCE, a community of over 130 independent wealth management firms throughout the United States. He is the creator of the weekly Sketch Guy column in the The New York Times, and is a columnist for Morningstar Advisor. He is the author of The Behavior Gap: Simple Ways to Stop Doing Dumb Things with Money (Portfolio/Penguin) and The One-Page Financial Plan: A Simple Way to Be Smart About Your Money (Portfolio).

Carl’s art appeared in a solo show at the Kimball Art Center, in Park City, Utah. Other showings include The Parson’s Gallery in New York, The Shultz Museum, and an upcoming exhibit at the Mansion House in London. His commissioned work is on display in businesses and educational institutions across the country. He lives with his family in Park City, Utah.

Nearly all newer professionals graduate with high student loan balances. In Part II of the Student Loan Workshop, learn to incorporate student debt considerations into financial and tax planning and create personalized strategies for your clients with student loans. Heather will use representative case studies to demonstrate:

How disbursement dates control your client’s repayment options and access to loan forgiveness.

How Adjusted Gross Income and tax filing status affect monthly payments and costs over time.

How to use a step-by-step process for establishing a client’s best repayment strategy.

Heather Jarvis is an attorney specializing in student loan education and consultation for universities, associations and professional advisors since 2005. Widely recognized as an expert source of information, Heather leads efforts to inform advisors, schools and borrowers about how to benefit from available debt relief programs. Heather graduated cum laude from Duke University School of Law in 1998 and is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and the North Carolina Supreme Court.

Bill Winterberg

Building Trust Online: How Technology is Changing the Way Advisors Earn Trust

The business of financial services has always been built on trust. Historically, financial professionals primarily built trust with a firm handshake and a face-to-face meeting. But today, technology is altering the way professionals earn the trust of others. Clients and prospects are now turning to online resources to find professionals with whom they can relate, that effectively communicate empathy, and can help address their unique needs, all before picking up the phone. It is more important than ever before that businesses adapt to the new opportunities in marketing, service, client retention, and more, all introduced by technology, in an effort to successfully build trust online.

Bill Winterberg is founder and president of FPPad.com and is a respected personality in the financial planning industry. Bill is widely recognized as an independent authority on the subject of technology in financial services. He maintains the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification and has past industry experience as a Registered Representative and a Registered Investment Adviser. In 2014, Bill was recognized as a 40 Under 40 Honoree by InvestmentNews. He was also named to the 2013 IA 25 list of the most influential people in the financial services profession by Investment Advisor Magazine. Bill lives in Atlanta, GA with his wife and six-year old son.

Alan Moore

#XYPN15 Opening Keynote

Financial advisors can’t simply continue to ignore the next generation of client, nor can they continue to “do things the way we’ve always done them.” The financial planning profession is changing, and the professionals at the XY Planning Network are at the forefront of that change. XYPN co-founder Alan Moore will open the network’s inaugural conference with a discussion on the history of the XY Planning Network, future outlook for financial planners — and might even have a surprise announcement or two up his sleeve!

Alan Moore, MS, CFP® is the co-founder of the XY Planning Network and president of Serenity Financial Consulting, a fee-only RIA and location independent financial planning firm. He is passionate about helping financial planners start and grow their own fee-only firms to serve Gen X & Gen Y clients largely ignored by traditional firms. Alan frequently speaks on topics related to technology, marketing, and business coaching, and has been quoted in publications including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes and The New York Times. He currently lives in Bozeman, MT so that he can hit the slopes on powder days.

Panel Sessions

Practice Management Track Panel Sessions Brought to You by

Filling the Income Gap

When you launch your own firm or are just getting started as an independent financial advisor, it may take time to develop the income you want from your business. That doesn’t mean you have to financially scrape by while growing and finding your first clients — and it certainly doesn’t mean you won’t be financially able to create your own firm.

Panelists Eric Roberge, Anjali Jaliwara, and Matt Becker will discuss how you can monetize your skills and knowledge as you start and grow your business from the ground up. They’ll share how they each found unique ways to fill their own income gaps, and how doing so meant more money in their pockets AND a more successful firm.

There’s a hugely under-served segment of the market that traditional, old-school financial advisors tend to ignore. The standard belief is that Gen X and Gen Y don’t have any money and you can’t build a firm geared towards working with younger clients. But this simply isn’t true. With the right model, you can work with Gen X and Gen Y clients AND run a profitable financial planning firm.

The key? Build a monthly retainer business model into your practice. By incorporating this business model along with AUM, you’ll have a fee structure that is recurring, affordable, and “bite-sized” for these middle market clients. Panelists Michael Solari, Sophia Bera, and Daniel Wrenne will discuss how you can implement this model into your own firm to better serve Gen X and Gen Y clients — while still running a profitable business.

These phrases and their variations may be cliches, but for good reason: they’re absolutely true. When you try to appeal to every single type of client you could possibly serve, you end up creating a disjointed brand and a message that falls short across the board. What’s the solution?

If you want to differentiate yourself from your competition, become known as a go-to advisor for a specific segment of the market, and grow a thriving business helping your ideal clients, you need to serve a niche. Ben Wacek, Brian Wright, and Aaron Hatch will explain how financial advisors can choose and cater to a niche, why narrowing your focus can create a more successful firm, and explain what a niche actually is. (Hint: “women 30 to 65” is not a niche.)

Chris Ducker, author of Virtual Freedom, notes that most entrepreneurs suffer from “superhero syndrome.” You may be suffering from this condition if you believe you can do everything in your business (while doing everything well). Here’s the thing: we can’t do it all, all the time.

When you run your own financial planning firm, you wear many hats. But that doesn’t mean you can’t — or shouldn’t — also ask for help when you need it. Panelists Katie Brewer, Megan Rindskopf, and Marcio Silveira will discuss how financial advisors can outsource tasks in their business without breaking the bank. We’ll talk about what, when, and how to delegate tasks — and we’ll also explain how doing so can help you run a more successful and profitable firm.

Can advisors focused on offering excellent financial planning services to their clients provide investment management, too? Yes! While your main goal as a fee-only financial planner is to provide specialized advice based on your area of expertise, you can also offer to manage investments. Scott Frank, PJ Wallin, and Eric Roberge will discuss the platforms they use to offer investment advice and management that makes the most sense for each client’s overall financial strategy.

Presentations

CE Sessions Brought to You by

What I Wish I Had Known: Practice Management Session with Jude Boudreaux

Jude left his firm 4 years ago to start Upperline Financial, his own fee-only firm without minimums and with a new idea to try a retainer model for larger clients. Starting with just one client from his previous firm, he started writing for his website and working to build his client base. He’ll share with you his journey and lessons learned from 4 years down the line.

Jude Boudreaux, CFP®

Tax Tips for Advising Small Business Owners: CE Session with Kitrina Wright

Just like CPA’s get questions related to financial planning, financial advisors often get questions from clients relating to taxes. Kitrina Wright, CPA will use this time to help decipher Internal Revenue Service code as well as explain the differences between entity structures, including compensation and reporting requirements. She will also discuss the ever growing issue of Internal Revenue Service fraudulent tax returns.

Learning Objectives:
Differences between entity structures available for small businesses.
Understanding more about the gray areas of small business accounting (Meals & Entertainment, Cell Phone Usage, Home Office Deductions, Etc).
Procedures involved when identity theft occurs at the Internal Revenue Service.

Kitrina Wright, CPA

Diversified to the Core: CE Session with Craig Isrealsen

Using historical data this presentation examines the performance of various portfolio designs during the build-up phase (prior to retirement) and the draw-down phase (post-retirement). Correlation patterns between major asset classes are reviewed over a 45-year period. The impact of rebalancing is evaluated over multiple time periods. This presentation specifically examines the use of “alternative asset classes” in portfolio design. The 7Twelve Portfolio, a multi-asset balanced model, is introduced.

Learning Objectives:

Learn more about historical performance of key portfolio asset classes.
Learn more about strategic portfolio design and management.
Learn more about the impact of using multiple asset classes in portfolios and the importance of combining low correlation assets.
Learn about the interaction of savings rates and investment portfolio design in reaching retirement portfolio goals
Learn about the durability of various portfolio models during the retirement years when money is being withdrawn from the portfolio.

This session is the speed dating portion of the conference. No awkwardness. No pressure. You’ll make 15 connections (all with different looks and characteristics) in 50 minutes and figure out which ones are a good fit for you and your clients.

Think of LLIS as your professional matchmaker. As a busy financial advisor, you certainly don’t have time to seek out these matches. But your clients are in the best position now for planning to protect their income and retirement. We’ll help pair you and your clients with the right policy from the right company to satisfy their individual needs and desires. You’ll meet “Not just another pretty face” (specialty disability insurance lines for athlete and HNW clients), “Term layering to save money,” “Challenging doesn’t mean uninsurable,” and “Mind your own business” (insurance for business, key person, business loan protection).

All 15 solutions you’ll see are eligible and proven. If one or more catch your eye, Mark will hook you up after the session.

Our guarantee: you’ll walk away with at least one you like or your LLIS Insurance Academy is free!

Zach Phipps is responsible for supporting the delivery of advice-driven asset management solutions for SEI’s advisors and their clients. This investment support includes custom investment case analysis and presentation support for SEI advisors, as well as technical investment support for SEI’s advisors and relationship managers.

Zach’s area of focus lies within the fixed income market where he works closely with the portfolio managers and credit analysts from SEI’s in-house bond manager, SEI Fixed Income Portfolio Management.

Learning Objectives:

A quick review of key challenges facing the RIA market today.
Understanding techniques to overcome behavioral biases and irrational investor behavior.
The evolution of portfolio management theory and a goals-based investment approach.
Investment strategies and portfolio construction designed to address specific investor goals.
How a goals-based approach broadens and strengthens the advisor and client relationship while helping to focus on priorities, values and goals.
Tips to ensure your clients’ financial plan keep pace with change.

Zach Phipps, CFA

Teaching Gen XY How To Invest For a 27% Annualized Rate of Return, Year after Year: CE Session with Joshua J. Sheats

As financial advisors we generally use the terms “investing” and “buying funds of publicly traded securities” synonymously. But, we do a massive disservice to our clients by doing that. It’s time to broaden our investment advice beyond mutual fund selection and dig deep with clients into career management strategies and business decisions. Our clients incomes and businesses are generally what make them rich, not fund selection. As fee-only advisors we have the opportunity to demonstrate huge financial value by teaching clients how to increase their income by 27% year after year. This ultimately leads to wealth which can be safely tucked aside into mutual fund. Join Joshua J. Sheats, MSFS, CFP®, CLU®, ChFC®, CASL®, CAP®, RHU®, REBC®, host of the Radical Personal Finance podcast as he systematically demonstrates the financial impact of good investment advice on a client’s ultimate financial portfolio.